Katy Perry says she grew up in a religious 'bubble beyond the bubble'

— -- Katy Perry is still working through her religious childhood.

The daughter of evangelical Christian pastors, Perry told Vogue, for the May issue, that she grew up sheltered in a "bubble beyond the bubble."

That meant she was not "allowed to interact with gay people" and she experienced what she called "generational racism."

"My house was church on Sunday morning, church on Sunday night, church on Wednesday evening," the 32-year-old pop star recalled. "You don’t celebrate Halloween; Jesus gives you your Christmas presents; we watch Bill O’Reilly on TV. That was my whole childhood and youth and early teens."

She added, "I still have conditioned layers dropping off of me by the day."

The singer has also been making up for her lack of early knowledge about the outside world.

"The schools were really makeshift," Perry explained. "Education was not the first priority. My education started in my 20s, and there is so much to learn still."

"But I came out of the womb asking questions, curious from day one, and I am really grateful for that: My curiosity has led me here," she continued. "Anything I don’t understand, I will just ask questions about."

Still, she admitted, "I miss references all the time."

Her musical upbringing was also restricted.

"Amy Grant was our Madonna," Perry said, referring to the popular contemporary Christian singer. "We knew about Madonna and Marilyn Manson in my family because we picketed their concerts."

Once, while handing out pamphlets at a Manson concert, Perry went inside and, to her surprise, found it "really interesting and weird -- I got it." At 15, she discovered the group Queen and their provocative lead singer, Freddie Mercury.

"I had never heard such an imaginative explanation of how to live," she recalled. "That was my first perspective on that world, and I just loved it. I felt so free and accepted." Two years later, at 17, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue the music career she wanted.

Today, she remains close to her parents while agreeing to disagree with them.

She follows Bill O’Reilly on Twitter so she can "know what’s going on on the other side" and she counts former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as a friend.

In fact, she got Clinton to promote her new shoe line by posing for a photo wearing a pink pump dubbed "The Hillary."

The photo, which Perry posted on Instagram Tuesday, drew more than 300,000 likes. The $139 suede pump with a Lucite heel filled with glittery stars and moons was already on its way to selling out, according to The New York Times.

Perry admitted to Vogue that she was "really disheartened" by the November election result.

"It just brought up a lot of trauma for me. Misogyny and sexism were in my childhood: I have an issue with suppressive males and not being seen as equal," she said. "I felt like a little kid again being faced with a scary, controlling guy. I wouldn’t really stand for it in my work life, because I have had so much of that in my personal life."

She called the election "an awakening that was necessary because I think we were in a false utopia."

Looking ahead, she said, "We can’t ever get that stagnant again. I am so grateful that young people know the names of senators. I think teenage girls are going to save the world! That age group just seems to be holding people accountable. They have a really strong voice -- and a loud one."